Left in Hands of Mets, Sparkling Debut Is Lost

Collin McHugh, a 25-year-old right-hander from Covington, Ga., struck out nine batters in his major league debut.Credit
Jim Mcisaac/Getty Images

The fact that the Mets have directed much of their attention toward next season complicated the question of how a game like Thursday’s should be comprehended.

Their 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies extended a plainly dismal period for the team, which has lost five straight and has not scored more than two runs in a game since Aug. 17. The Mets were swept in four games by the Rockies, who arrived at Citi Field this week 25 games under .500.

Yet the afternoon featured a heartening performance by the rookie Collin McHugh, who pitched seven scoreless innings in his major league debut. Manager Terry Collins has talked lately about finding bright spots amid this stretch of losing baseball, and this certainly was one.

“At this stage of the season, you’ve got to start looking to next year; you’ve got to start looking at the big picture,” Collins said. “And isn’t it nice to know you’ve got guys like Matt Harvey, Collin McHugh, Robert Carson, Josh Edgin, that down the road are going to be impact guys on your team?”

McHugh, a 25-year-old right-hander from Covington, Ga., found himself slotted into the Mets’ rotation after Johan Santana was placed on the disabled list. Santana will not pitch again this season, and the Mets have concerns about pushing the other members of their staff too far.

So McHugh and others will have a chance to prove their worth in the coming months. Expectations placed on McHugh — as well as relievers Edgin and Carson — are significantly less than those placed on Harvey, another rookie right-hander. But McHugh can nevertheless raise his stock some degree before next spring training.

From that standpoint, he asserted himself well, allowing only two hits and walking one while striking out nine. The strikeout total was the second most for a Mets debut, trailing only Harvey’s 11 last month.

“Every game at this level is important,” McHugh said. “This was my debut, but I hope to have a lot more.”

McHugh was selected by the Mets in the 18th round of the 2008 draft, and he ascended through the organization as a relatively unheralded talent. This season, though, he posted a 2.41 earned run average over 12 starts in Class AA. He then made 12 starts in Class AAA, compiling a 3.39 E.R.A. with 67 strikeouts over 69 innings, turning some heads.

McHugh was comfortable Thursday. For one thing, it was not his first time pitching in a major league stadium. His last minor league game was at Fenway Park, where he logged seven scoreless innings for the Buffalo Bisons during their win over the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Photo

The Olympic gold-medalist Gabby Douglas met David Wright before throwing out the game's first pitch.Credit
Mike Coppola/Getty Images

McHugh — whose droll personality had been glimpsed through his personal blog, “A Day Older, A Day Wiser,” and his Twitter account, @Collin_McHugh — pointed out earlier this week that pitching in a big league game would be a different experience.

But he settled in nicely.

“The anticipation is the hardest part, for sure,” he said, adding he felt calm as soon as he began playing catch. “It felt comfortable out there.”

Perhaps the circumstances were less jarring than he expected. To start, there was a laid-back feel inside Citi Field, as large patches of seats were empty during the game. The announced crowd was 22,544, although the actual number appeared much less.

Then there was the Rockies’ largely anonymous, unaccomplished lineup, which McHugh handled with ease.

He allowed a double in the first inning to Charlie Blackmon, the Rockies’ leadoff man. But he coasted from there, facing just one batter over the minimum the rest of the way. The Rockies were aggressive, and McHugh unsteadied them, using varieties of a fastball that topped off at 93 miles per hour and liberal doses of his curveball and slider. The Rockies hit a succession of soft grounders and pop-ups.

McHugh received a loud ovation as he walked off the field after finishing the top of the seventh. He shook hands with Collins, who slapped him on the back three times.

Though he beamed afterward, McHugh, too, grasped the dichotomy of the day. “I’m glad I was able to throw the ball well today,” he said. “But being part of this team, I’ve only been here for a couple of days, but it’s a struggle right now.”

Once McHugh, the bright spot of the day, was gone, the game disintegrated. In the eighth, some egregious footwork by Jordany Valdespin in center field helped Tyler Colvin to a leadoff triple, before Bobby Parnell allowed a go-ahead single to Chris Nelson.

The afternoon ended after the Mets’ offense — which went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position — could not cash in on Justin Turner’s leadoff single in the ninth.

After the game, frustration hung in the air. “It just seems like we can’t execute anything we try,” Collins said.

Catcher Josh Thole was more blunt. “It’s a nightmare for everybody in this clubhouse,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on August 24, 2012, on page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: Left in Hands of Mets, Sparkling Debut Is Lost. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe